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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25440337">In This New World, I'm Happy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibasniper/pseuds/kibasniper'>kibasniper</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Puyo Puyo (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Acceptance, Birthday, During Canon, Friendship, Gen, Ocean, happy birthday arle!!!, read this with their original english voices in mind, set after fever 1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:35:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,356</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25440337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibasniper/pseuds/kibasniper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Amitie and Raffina fetch Arle for her birthday party. After everything she has endured in her old world, Arle is more than ready to go with them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In This New World, I'm Happy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>happy birthday, arle. you deserve to be in smash more than geno.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun dipped low into the sea. It was like a bloody crescent, slipping deeper into the abyss. The waters were dyed orange and red, slivers of blinding light reflecting back into Arle’s amber eyes when she gazed at the waves lapping closer to her worn boots.</p><p>She marched along the shore, her faithful companion resting on her shoulder. The sea salt wafted around her and settled in her hair. Threading her fingers through her ponytail, she raked through knots and lowered her arm, the waves having caught up to her boots to wet the soles.</p><p>Carbuncle yawned, his long ears pressing into the side of her head. Arle snickered, a bit envious of his ability to sleep anywhere at any time. She scratched between his ears, earning a sigh in return before he quieted down, his lips smacking together.</p><p>“Dreaming about curry, huh, Carby?” she asked. Carbuncle cooed in his sleep.</p><p>She wrung her hands together in front of her tunic. Her worn knuckles brushed against threadbare fabric. Taking in a deep breath, she smelled the rich scent of the sea. The wind kicked up, pressing sand against her scabbed knees and neck. Somewhere, someone laughed. Elsewhere, another called her name. She smiled, chapped lips spreading into her freckled cheeks. She opened her eyes in time to witness dolphins leaping high into the air, their curved bodies shadowed by the sun before plummeting back down into the depths.</p><p>If she had been in her world, then she would have missed such a blissful sight. There was the chance that she might have seen something like it in her realm, but she could not say for certain. Right now in the present, Primp was her home, and the sea called to her, so she waited, observing schools of violet fish scurrying with the current, her boots sinking into the wet sand as the waves rose higher on the shore.</p><p>“Arle! There you are!”</p><p>She raised her head, beaming at the intrusion. If she had been on her world, then a scowl would have darkened her features. But the girl racing towards her, massive hat bobbing with each step and exuding glee like an aura, enhanced Arle’s delight, their classmate following at a much calmer pace unlike the fighting queen who would demand she keep her distance.</p><p>Stumbling over a turtle crawling along at its own pace, Amitie yelped and flailed. Her arms spun like propellers as she bounced forward, but Raffina snatched her shoulder and steadied her. Hunching forward, Amitie chuckled, a nervous tune pitching her laughter while she thanked Raffina.</p><p>“A lady should always stay poised, Miss Amitie,” Raffina remarked, not a single trace of sweat on her forehead or redness in her complexion compared to the gasping, flushed Amitie.</p><p>“Aw, get real, Raffina. I saw you almost take a tumble over a pebble right before we got to the beach,” Amitie teased, lightly nudging her elbow into their taller classmate’s arm.</p><p>Raffina gagged like she had a frog in her throat. Her brows furrowed together, and she crossed her arms, lifting her nose to the cloudy sky above them. “Well, well, I did no such thing. Perhaps that gargantuan hat of yours is blurring your vision,” she spat, her composure faltering.</p><p>“Definitely not, Miss la ti da,” Amitie sang, shrugging her shoulders.</p><p>“Alright, alright,” Arle interjected as Raffina clenched her fists and met Amitie’s twinkling stare with narrowed eyes. She waved her hands slightly, feeling as if she was back home dispelling an argument between her witchy and draconic rivals. “I guess if you two are here, then that means the party’s ready?”</p><p>As if she had forgotten her tiff with Raffina, Amitie broke into a smile so bright that it reminded Arle of the morning arch of the sun. She bobbed her head up and down, the wings on her hat fluttering. “Oh, you bet’cha! Ms. Accord went nuts with the decorations! And you know how Lidelle is a great baker? Well, she made you a cake with-!”</p><p>“Wait! Don’t spoil the all the surprises!” Raffina blurted, quickly clapping her hand over Amitie’s mouth. She lowered her voice. “We mustn’t ruin their hard work with your blabbing.”</p><p>Amitie uttered a garbled squawk reminiscent of the seagulls flying overhead. She waved her hands, her cheeks puffing out against Raffina’s strong fingers. As Raffina pulled her hand off and rubbed it on the side of her skirt, Amitie sucked in a few breaths, sounding like she had finished running a marathon.</p><p>“Excuse her, Miss Arle. She gets quite excitable about these conventions,” Raffina replied, flipping a long curl of hair over her shoulder.</p><p>“It doesn’t bother me one bit. I’d rather know ahead about these things, y’know?” she offered, but she was met with blank gazes, her answer clearly not what was accustomed to in Primp Town.</p><p>She understood that they could not fully comprehend her ways just yet. Birthdays on her world were simply days that catered around the person with presents and well wishes. Their age was never important. What mattered was their birth and nothing more, especially in a land where no one grew old.</p><p>Compared to the ludicrous happenings in her old world, such as a dark mage trapping her in a bloody labyrinth or a monstrous minotaur raising his claw to tear her limb from limb, a surprise party held by her classmates and teacher was mundane, tame, and exactly what she wanted in the grand scheme of it all.</p><p>Carbuncle yawned and dispelled the tension. He blinked his beady eyes open. Rolling off Arle’s shoulder pad, he plopped into the sand and created a round, Carbuncle-shaped hole.</p><p>Arle and Amitie chuckled and watched Carbuncle bounce upright. Realizing where he was, he gasped and climbed up Arle’s body. He settled back on her shoulder, stretching his stubby limbs and patting her head with his long ear, laughing along with them.</p><p>“Well, let’s not dawdle any longer. We have to return to school before Lidelle’s ice cream cake melts,” Raffina interjected and pivoted on her heels. She took one step before her shoulders hitched to her earlobes. Shock and embarrassment colored her skin, prompting her to shout, “I-I mean! Well, that is-that is to say-”</p><p>“And who’s giving out the surprises now, Raffina?” Amitie teased, skipping past her with Arle.</p><p>Raffina cleared her throat and crossed her arms. “Miss Arle does not like them, so I supplied her with the information that she wanted to know.” She offered a tense, crooked smile at Arle. “Isn’t that right, Miss Arle?”</p><p>“Sure, we can go with that,” Arle replied, Raffina exhaling to herself.</p><p>“It’s gonna be loads of fun! We have that new kid, Sig, from the class next door coming to play, too. And Ms. Accord is totally gonna set up tons of fun Fever battles!” Amitie gushed and slipped her arm around Arle’s shoulder. She grinned from ear to ear, her cheeks appearing more cherubic. “And everyone got you wicked cool presents, but I’m gonna keep them a secret, okay?”</p><p>“Thanks for setting this all up,” Arle said, her enthusiasm sounding strange to herself but welcomed by them. How her voice pitched at the end, cracking slightly, but neither commented on it or mocked her, unlike how others in her old world would have picked up on it and sneered.</p><p>She listened to Amitie and Raffina chitchat, the ocean waves bidding them goodbye. She glanced over her shoulder, and Carbuncle mimicked her. They watched the foam rise onto the golden shore, mingling with deep green seaweed and pale pink seashells. The sun melted with the water, spreading out in rosy hues like bleeding candle wax, and she sighed, lowering her shoulders, relaxing the tension in her jaw and bones.</p><p>“Hey, um, Arle, are you okay? You kinda stopped walking,” Amitie called, lightly tugging on her arm.</p><p>“Did you forget something back there?” Raffina asked when Arle turned around, the forest path with its pine scent ready to guide them to school.</p><p>As Carbuncle hopped on her head, Arle grinned. “Nope! I’m the same ol’ Arle, so let’s get this party started!”</p>
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